The husband loves Thai Yellow Curry. It’s pretty much guaranteed that when we visit a Thai restaurant, he will order some form of curry: Yellow, Panang, Red, and occasionally Green. He’ll never order a stir fry or noodles, although he does like Pad Thai from time to time.
I love curry too.
But, I usually order stir frys at Thai restaurants because the curries are SO heavy and full of cream and oil.
So of course my mission became: to makeover Thai Yellow Curry in our kitchen – making it healthier but still “husband approved” and restaurant quality!
My main healthy swaps included:
- Light coconut milk instead of regular
- TONS of spices instead of cream/oil
- TONS of veggies for great texture
.
The Ingredients
- 2-3 cups light coconut milk (about 20 oz)
- 3-4 tablespoons high quality curry powder (I like the one from Trader Joe’s)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt (or more to taste)
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 3-5 medium garlic cloves, chopped (adjust the amount of garlic based on how spicy you like it)
- 8 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes
- Veggies: 2 heads of broccoli, 1 pound asparagus – chopped, 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup chopped cashews, toasted
- a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped (optional – I like cilantro but the husband doesn’t, so I omitted this)
- 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (if you like things spicy)
- Cumin, cardamom and pepper (to taste – I used about 1 tsp cumin, a sprinkling of cardamom, and a pinch of pepper)
- Brown rice for serving
.
.
The Directions
Step 1: Cut all your veggies. Saute the onion and 2 cloves chopped garlic in 1/2 tsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp curry powder and salt and stir until combined.
Step 2: Add the coconut milk to the onion mixture, bring to simmer and work out any clumps. Stir in the tofu and cook for a few minutes until the tofu has absorbed most of the flavors. Simmer the liquid on low heat until it has cooked down slightly.
Step 3: Meanwhile, in a large pan, saute the broccoli, asparagus, and pepper (or whatever veggies you use) with 2 cloves chopped garlic over medium heat. Add salt, cayenne, and remaining curry power/cumin and other spices to taste. Cook until veggies are crisp.

Step 4: Pour tofu/coconut milk mixture over veggies (in the pan) and stir to combine.
Step 5: Add additional spices as needed. Cook through for a few minutes.
Step 6: Remove from heat and stir in cashews. Serve with brown rice.
Now this is one yellow curry you can enjoy guilt free!
The spices and the creaminess of the light coconut milk are really the ingredients that make this dish. I’m a huge fan of cashews as well – their crunchiness and slight sweetness are absolutely perfect in this curry.
This also makes for great leftovers, because the spices just marinate even further with the tofu and veggies so the flavors continue to build even further! Although you may not have any food left, because this dish is so delicious you can’t help but devour it all.
Ingredients
-
2- 3 cups light coconut milk ( about 20 oz)
-
3- 4 tablespoons high quality curry powder (I like the one from Trader Joe’s)
-
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt ( or more to taste)
-
1 large red onion, chopped
-
3- 5 medium garlic cloves, chopped (adjust the amount of garlic based on how spicy you like it)
-
8 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes
-
Veggies: 2 heads of broccoli , 1 pound asparagus - chopped, 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
-
1/3 cup chopped cashews, toasted
-
a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped (optional - I like cilantro but the husband doesn’t, so I omitted this)
-
1/8- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (if you like things spicy)
-
Cumin, cardamom and pepper ( to taste - I used about 1 tsp cumin, a sprinkling of cardamom, and a pinch of pepper)
-
Brown rice for serving
Directions
- Cut all your veggies. Saute the onion and 2 cloves chopped garlic in 1/2 tsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp curry powder and salt and stir until combined.
- Add the coconut milk to the onion mixture, bring to simmer and work out any clumps. Stir in the tofu and cook for a few minutes until the tofu has absorbed most of the flavors. Simmer the liquid on low heat until it has cooked down slightly.
- Meanwhile, in a large pan, saute the broccoli, asparagus, and pepper (or whatever veggies you use) with 2 cloves chopped garlic over medium heat. Add salt, cayenne, and remaining curry power/cumin and other spices to taste. Cook until veggies are crisp.
- Pour tofu/coconut milk mixture over veggies (in the pan) and stir to combine.
- Add additional spices as needed. Cook through for a few minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in cashews. Serve with brown rice.












Hello! I'm Anjali. I'm a 20 something living in the SF Bay Area, with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty, and fun! Try some of 




















{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks wonderful! Tofu and curry go so well together.
I completely agree! Hope you enjoy it!
While browsing I came across your great blogsite!! I’ve added your site into my blogroll. Could you please consider add my link in your blogroll.
My site is about ‘Easy Recipes’
http://easy-picnic-recipe.blogspot.com/
Thanks in Advance!!
What a wonderful blog for anyone looking for healthy vegetarian recipes! Great work.
I do a ‘mean’ spicy version of curried chickpea soup cooked in turmeric powder, with dash of black pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil added for enhanced taste. Turmeric has anti-cancer properties so I make sure I have my spicy curry at least once a week!
I write a blog on right eating habits. Anyone is welcome to visit – http://www.righteatinghabits.com
And take away a healthy eating tip!
Thanks! Just visited your blog – love the helpful info! Keep it up
I just came across your blog and I love it! This recipe looks just delicious! I am all about healthy vegetarian cooking for my family that even my omnivore husband will like. I will definitely be trying this!
Aw thanks so much Lindsey!
Can’t wait to hear what you and your family think about this recipe!
This was wonderful! We added some chili powder as well. My boyfriend also heated up some frozen shrimp to add to his bowl, which he said was very good and it was no extra work! I used canned light coconut milk and subbed green beans for asparagus and carrots for the bell peppers. Thanks for another great recipe!
Oh I’m so glad that you and your boyfriend liked this recipe Anna! Adding the chili powder sounds really interesting – I bet it gave it a little extra kick! Green beans and carrots sound great too!
This looks awesome! I can’t wait to make it
What is the serving size for it?
Thanks Cynthia! I’d say this makes 5-6 servings – so one serving would be about 1/6th of the recipe! Enjoy!
This looks great – is there a printer friendly version somewhere?
Thanks so much Holly! I’ve just updated this recipe so there is a printer-friendly version at the bottom of this post
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for providing pictures of your ingredients and steps. I get so intimidated trying out new recipes and never know what to look for in the store when shopping for new ingredients. Also, trying to make my meals more healthy (while feeding picking eaters and a peanut allergy) at home and these adjustments are difficult! Thanks for your recipes, I feel like I have a little more support.
Hi Beth! Awww I’m so glad to hear that, and I’m so happy that you feel supported by my blog and recipes! If you have any questions about any of the recipes or anything else health related, don’t hesitate to email me! I’d love to help you in any way I can
Thanks again!
I’m so excited! I found your site from your guest visit to skinnytaste blog and I can’t wait to try this. I am a huge fan of Indian food, but I’m on weight watchers and can’t afford those heavy curries. And yellow curry is my favorite Thai dish, so this one looks great too! Quick question. I don’t love asparagus and my husband does love cauliflower. Do you think I could sub cauliflower for the broccoli? And do you have any suggestions for what I could I use in place of the asparagus?
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